Tk 10 lakh daycare in Tikatuli; pandemic loans still being repaid, six children now
A caregiver who worked a decade at Bangladesh Bank's daycare lost that job and in 2019 spent Tk 10 lakh to open her own daycare in Tikatuli, Dhaka. The pandemic sent the children home; she is still repaying loans from that time and now runs with six children.
She began work in 2009 as a caregiver at Bangladesh Bank's daycare centre. In 2018 her employer lost the contract to run it, leaving her and 20 other caregivers jobless. Drawing on almost a decade of experience and her ties with working families, she opened her own daycare, Subarashi, in 2019. In her words, she had to invest Tk 10 lakh at the start, covering the advance for the premises, toys, interior design and hiring caregivers. Then the pandemic hit and parents took their children home; she is still repaying loans taken at that time. When the 2023 report was written, the centre ran from a three-bedroom flat in Tikatuli from 8:30 am to 5 pm, with six children aged three to ten. The admission fee is Tk 14,000 and the monthly fee Tk 6,000 per child, covering bathing, naps, breakfast, lunch and snacks. Most parents work in banking. She runs it with her elder sister and one caregiver who also cooks. She says landlords do not want to rent flats to daycare centres, and when they do they demand a higher advance. She also questions the proposed Day Care Centre Regulation 2022, which would require a Tk 10 lakh bank balance for registration, asking whether small operators could hold that much money.
Lessons
- 1.Daycare income depends entirely on attendance; keep savings to cover fixed costs like rent for several months rather than starting on loans alone.
- 2.Landlords may be reluctant to rent to a daycare and may ask for a larger advance; budget for that when searching for premises.
- 3.Prior experience and contacts with working families help win the first customers; also keep track of new registration rules.
Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.
Discussion
Nobody has written yet. Be the first.